Overcoming nervousness in BJJ Competition

[Stephan Kesting]

Hey guys,

With the help of my readership I just published a new article on my website called How to Deal with Nerves in BJJ Competition

Check it out here: http://www.grapplearts.com/2015/07/dealing-with-competition-nerves-in-bjj/

If you have any of your own tips that you'd like to contribute to this article you can post them below. Just make sure that you say if it's OK for me to quote you, and give me a name (or nom de plume) that you would like me to use

Hope this helps someone

Stephan

 

[DaleCaliente]

Stephan - first want to say thanks for all your tutorials online. They are awesome and you are a great coach.

Joking around, I always told my BJJ buds to do boxing a few years...then BJJ competitions seem so relaxing! lol.


On a serious note - I always found that very hard rolling, to submission, is GREAT training. I have a friend who is as tenacious as anyone I've ever met in a tourney match. In the weeks leading up to tournaments, we turn up our rolling and really go at it. WE start standing up, with mouthpieces (or whatever you wear in tournament) and take it seriously. It is just us on the mats. Bby the time Tournament day comes, a few things have happened.

1) You have been going at tournament pace and know what to expect
2) Your cardio has improved
3) You are used to the mindset of "I am about to go all out".


Secondly, and most importantly, learn ALL you can about Fight or Flight. That is the essence of our nervous system, our reactions, both good and bad, to the prospect of fighting. The more you know about what's happening, the more you can control it, and make it work to your advantage.

At this point I can walk into a tournament match with the same heartrate I have right now.

-Dio Santana. OK to use (though I don't think it's the best advice out)

 

[Russky]

Whole body warm up until you feel hot and sweating. Activating your muscles increases rate of adrenaline oxidation by mitochondria. Deep breathing also helps, as you need oxygen to destroy adrenaline hormone.

Talk to your doctor about Propranolol if you have problems with adrenaline outside competition as well. But keep in mind that Propranolol is banned for all Olympic sports.

Edit:

Since adrenaline release is triggered by central nervous system (your brain), any thinking related to the competition will cause more adrenaline release. Do not watch the competition, do not talk to your opponents, stay away from the competition area. Read books, play games, watch movie, etc.

Cold is another trigger for the adrenaline release. Make sure to dress warm to the competition.

 

[BigDeadFreak]

I was just about to start a thread about dealing with nervousness in judo competitions as it is something I really suffered with on the one occasion I did compete. I need to start fighting again so that I can go for my brown belt so this is really useful.

This might seem like a silly question Russky, but why is it so important to get rid of adrenalin? When I have tried to calm myself down before fighting people in the past it has resulted in me losing my edge and being too relaxed; I thought I should be going the other way and trying to psyche myself up more?

 

[youngsteinel]

The article on this subject that I got the most out of, Matt Holt (aka Dirty Holt) really broke it down perfectly here.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/matt...e-nervousness-for-competition/376861279126583

 

[kjg1672]

In general I'm a pretty nervous and anxious person. My wedding day, the birth of my kids, some situations at work: I was a mess for all of them. But I haven't been nervous at all the last four or five BJJ comps. I think part of it has to do with being in my 40s. When I'm about to compete it occurs to me that I'm a middle-aged man standing on a mat in my pajamas, about to aggressively hug another middle-aged man in public. The ridiculousness of the situation makes me smile to myself, and I just go out and have a good time.

 

[sixfifteen]

We do a lot with the military for training for combat. One of the simple tricks we've had revealed to us is a basic breathing exercise: Four second inhale, four second hold, four second exhale, four second hold, repeat...
I've used it and could literally feel my heart rate decrease before stepping onto the mat. Now, it's not a magic wand or anything, but it does noticeably help. I do something somewhat similar when freediving, but it's more about changing the physiological response than psychological, but it is definitely calming.

Note: Two cycles of this takes just over 30 seconds so it's not something to do at the last minute.

And thanks for all of the online tutorials! Excellent instructionals, I use them a lot.

 

[Ton]

In general I'm a pretty nervous and anxious person. My wedding day, the birth of my kids, some situations at work: I was a mess for all of them. But I haven't been nervous at all the last four or five BJJ comps. I think part of it has to do with being in my 40s. When I'm about to compete it occurs to me that I'm a middle-aged man standing on a mat in my pajamas, about to aggressively hug another middle-aged man in public. The ridiculousness of the situation makes me smile to myself, and I just go out and have a good time.

Best post 2015

 

[HtomSirveaux]

We do a lot with the military for training for combat. One of the simple tricks we've had revealed to us is a basic breathing exercise: Four second inhale, four second hold, four second exhale, four second hold, repeat...

I got that from reading "on combat" by a military guy, forget the name... He also has one about the psychological effects of killing people. Really interesting reads

I obviously wouldn't compare a bjj tournament to mortal combat, but when I was competing a lot I read his book in addition to sports psychology texts and such, like someone else mentioned, to understand the nervous system, effects of adrenaline, etc as much as possible

 

[rmongler]

Just imagine your opponent is in his underwear.

 

[selfcritical]

Or his pajamas

 

[Russky]

This might seem like a silly question Russky, but why is it so important to get rid of adrenalin? When I have tried to calm myself down before fighting people in the past it has resulted in me losing my edge and being too relaxed; I thought I should be going the other way and trying to psyche myself up more?

Adrenaline controls you. Muscles get hard, you get short period of energy boost and then you have to pay with hard energy drop.

What you want is anger. If you are angry and aggressive your muscles are relaxed, reaction is fast. This is another good way of dealing with adrenaline, as well. You can try to make yourself angry mentally, or ask someone to slap you in the face a few times like boxer coach does at competition.

A fencing coach told me story how his sportsmen was fighting at a world tournament and was not energetic enough. He asked this guy to come up and .. pinched him as hard as he could. This guy went mad and finished his opponent within seconds. (Anger is not substitute for technique, no argument here!)

Here's and example. You may think that boxing coach is angry - he is not. This is just therapy.
[YT]J4dS4lLWpxU[/YT]

 

[Russky]

The ridiculousness of the situation makes me smile to myself, and I just go out and have a good time.

I do not care if I win or lose, I am old, too.

The biggest problem for me is that I was sitting at the referee table for so many competitions, and I've seen so many injuries and guys carried out by ambulance that I cannot stop thinking about that. :redface:

 

[sixfifteen]

I got that from reading "on combat" by a military guy, forget the name... He also has one about the psychological effects of killing people. Really interesting reads

LtCol Dave Grossman: On Killing and On Combat. I find the psychology fascinating, even if only somewhat applicable to middle aged men in their pajamas

 

[HtomSirveaux]

I find the psychology fascinating, even if only somewhat applicable to middle aged men in their pajamas

Helio begs to differ...

 

[Russky]

^^^ Seppuku when you lost your face? :icon_lol:

I realized that I do not know enough on the subject and started reading a book on sports psychology. Link for Russian-speaking ppl - Преодолей себя! Психическая подготовка в спорте
Анатолий Васильевич Алексеев

In the beginning of the book he describes mental procedure to prepare yourself for the competition. This is similar to meditation/autogenic training.

First step is to figure out your mental state when your results are the best. Say, you had a competition or training session and you felt like god submitting people left and right. Analyze and write down what you felt then. Something like:

I feel my muscles are relaxed yet very energetic.
My breathing is deep and calm.
I feel like hunter over the prey.

Your feelings are very individual. In their best readiness one girl felt tingling in her chin, another guy perceived opponents as much smaller size than they were. You may have your own unique feelings.

Once you have your set you start imagining these feelings one after another to bring yourself into that state. Bringing your mind into that state with imagination will in turn stimulate your body to get into the same optimal state. It is a known fact that smiling - just a mechanical action - makes your feel happier with dopamine release.

Second part is to concentrate on your plan for the competition. Play your game plan in your mind. Like get on the mat, grip, foot sweep, side mount .... Try not to think about anything else.

I'll continue reading the book and posting if someone is interested.

 

[BigDeadFreak]

Thanks Russky, that's really interesting especially the part about writing down how you feel when you are at your best (almost like an inverse of CBT). I'll definitely try this next time I do some randori and see how it works.

 

[Ivaylo Ivanov]

In general, the reason why people are nervous in competitions, is their own ego.
Most care about the way people will percept them if they lose.
Once you have drilled mentally, and understand that your perfofmance is just one in many to come, you will be able to grow in the sport, working with a long term plan.

 

[Thrawn33]

In general, the reason why people are nervous in competitions, is their own ego.
Most care about the way people will percept them if they lose.
Once you have drilled mentally, and understand that your perfofmance is just one in many to come, you will be able to grow in the sport, working with a long term plan.

Good way to look at it.

I started wrestling in 8th grade. Was nervous as he'll before my first few matches and got stomped.

Lost many more that year and the years following it.

At some point during my junior year, wins/losses just stopped being everything. I just wanted to get better. Then I started winning. Not enough to win states, but enough to pick my head up.

Fast forward over a decade to when I started Judo. When I started competing after a couple months there was no nerves.

Anyway I'm rambling.

A good mix of time, experience and ass kicking will work out those nerves.

 

[Russky]

In general, the reason why people are nervous in competitions, is their own ego.

It would be interesting to hear what people think about this. It is certainly not ego in my case.